Bridge signal for railroads



March 24, 1925. 1,530,826 Y -J. GROSS l BRI DGE S GNAL FOR RYI LRO AD SFiled Jan. e, 1925 l l. f gri/vento@ ../e Gross.

Patented Mar. 24, 19725.

Josera eRfoss, or DENVER, COLORADO.

BRIDGE SIGNAL ron `mirnaoans.

` Application filed 'January 6, 1925. Serial No.7755.

T all 'whom t may concer/rt."

Be 1t known that I, JOSEPH Guoss avcitizen of the United States,residing at Denver,

in the city and county of Deliver and State i otColorado, have inventedcertain 'new and useful Improvements in Bridge Signals for Railroads:arid I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexactdescription ot the invention, suoli as will enable others skilledin theart to which it appertainsto make -and'use the same, rreferencebeing had -to the accompanying'drawings, and `to the characters ofreference marked thereon which form a part ot this specification.

bridge signals tor railroads.

The railroads employ in their construe#4 tion, a large number of bridgesof different type7 the smaller of which are ot `the trestle type ofconstruction. `Many ot the smaller bridges span creeks or dry ditchesthat are,

subject to sudden and great variations in the `flow of water. It ojtten`happens that after a storm or Iduring the spring thaw a f smallcreelror a dry ditch becomes a'` raging torrentthat sometimes `washesaway.' the ground about the bridge foundations to such an extent thatthe brid-ge becomes unsafe.

` AIt is the Aobject of this invention to prouncovered and which isprovided with meansv for operating asignal when it is moved..

AIn order more clearly to describe my 1nvention,V I have illustrated oneembodiment 45 thereof, which I will now describe in detail7 referencefor this purpose being had to the accompanying drawing in which-- Fig. lis a side elevation of a bridge of trestle construction.

Fig. 2 is a partial section taken on line 2-2. i

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary View showing a side elevation of the switch anda diagram of connections, and

This invention relates to iniprovem'ents in` position (Fig. 2)

Fig. 4 is a section taken :on line Fig. p

InFig. l I have shown a side elevation ot' a bridge trestleconstruct-ion;` numeral l. indicates the rails, 2 the tiesy the signalsand 4t' the spiles. The'speciic construction of the bridge is immaterialand I will7 therefore, refrain from describing the same in detaihexcept,in .so far as itniay be desirable to do so in order tovcxplain my`invention. f i

The spiles e arel usually arranged in groups which I have designated `asA, B, C, D and E Each group consists of several `piles arrangedwsomewhatas shown in vF 2 with. their lower ends sunk into the ground to aconsiderable depth.` `If .the watershould wash away the ground fromabout .the lower ends of the Lspiles, `the bridge would, of course,become unsafe. As pointred yout above, it is `the object of thisinvention to produce a signal `operating,means .which will cause thedanger .signals at each end of thebridge toI become operative, it thebridge has become undermined to Such an eXtentas to become dangerous. 1In order to accomplish the object 'I take apiece yot timber such as a.two by four 5 and drive 'oneend :thereof into the `grol'md along sideoloneor `more of thespiles of each. group in the manner shown in Figs.`l and s, `The timber 5N is driven into the ground to the depth te. which4the ground must be' washed away betore the bridge becomes dangerous.The' upper endof the timber 5 .has a short length 6 separated from itand .secured to the spile by lag screws'T. The lparts 5 and 6 areconnected by a hinge 8. Aneye bolt 9-is fastened to each of members 5and 6. `The eyes of these bolts are connected by aV .spring l0 `which is.under `tension andwhich therefore tends `to `swing the party 5 intodotted line `*position (Fig. 2)..4 The members 5 and 6 aresecured to thespiles in such a manner that the water as it flows past tends to movethe part 5 into dotted'line It the ground is Washed away to a vdepthindicated by the dotted line 11 in Fig. 2 the part 5 becomes free toswing about the'hinge pin and the action of the water and the spring l0will cause the same to assume a position somewhat as shown in dottedlines in Fig. 2. Whenever l V this occurs, the signals 3 must be madeoper- 1 ative and set to danger. vI accomplish this by the followingmeans. To the part 6 I fasten an insulating base 12 to which is securedthe switch contact 13. A switch blade 14 is pivotally connected tocontact 13 at 15. A compression spring 16 extends between the base 12and the switch blade 14 and tends to move the blade to the dotted lineposition Fig. 3). Secured to the upper end of member 5 Eis an insulatingbase member 17, to which the switch contact 18 is connected. This switchcontact is formed with two spaced sides 19, whose ends 2() are bentinwardly in the manner shown in Fig. 4 to such an extent that theyprevent the blade 14 from being moved out by .the action of the spring16. Vhen the parts 5 and (5 are aligned in the manner shown in Figs. 2and 3, the switch blade makes electrical connection between the contacts13 and 18but when the .part 5 swings tofdot-ted line position (Fig. 2)the blade 14'will be withdrawn from the contact 18 so as to break theelectrical connection. The spring 16 moves the blade to this dotted lineposition (F ig. 3) and prevents `the switch from closing it' the member5 should accidentally swing back to full-line position. The switch bladeand spring 16 may, if desired, be replaced by a wire that will be brokenwhen the parts 13 rand 18 move apart. The switch just describedislocated in a closed circuit formed by wires 21, 22, 23 and battery 24when thecircuit is closed the magnet 25 is energized, but as soon as thecircuit is open the magnet 25 is deenergized and releases an armature 26which closes a local circuit and causes the semaphore 27 to be moved todanger position. Any other signal operating means may be employedthatLis adapted to be set into operation by my circuit opener.

In the drawings, I have shown my device i applied to one spile only or'each group, but itis obvious that' as many of these devices may beapplied as may be deemed necessary.

It is, of course, necessary to connect all ofy the circuit openers inseries so that the signal will be operated whenever any one of themoperates.

Although I have1 referred to members 5 and 6 as -being'constructed ofwood, this is, of course, not necessary` as theyl may be made of oldboiler tubing, channel or angle irons, or any other suitable material.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. In a bridge signal, in combination, a bridge having supports, amember fastened to each support, a second member hingedly connected tothe first member and normally aligned therewith, said second memberhaving one end extending into the ground adjacent the support with whichit 1s associated, switch means operatively associated with said4members, said switch means being formed in two parts, one ot' which isassociated with each of said members, said -switch being adapted to openwhen the said members move out of alignment and a signal adapted to bemoved to operative position when the switch is opened.

2. A bridge signal comprising, in combination, a member adapted to besecured vto a part of the bridge structure, a second member hingedlyconnected to the first mentioned member and adapted to occupy a positionin alignment therewith, a switch having two contacts, one of which isconnected to each of said members, means for connecting the contactselectrically when the members are `in aligned position and fordisconnecting said contact when the members are movedout or' alignment,a signal and means for making the signal operative when the switchopens.`

3. A bridge signal comprising a bridge supporthaving one end extendinginto the ground, a switch operating device operatively associated withsaid support, said device having one part rigidly secured to the supportand a second plart having its upperend hingedly connecte to the firstpart, the lower end ofv the second part being embedded in the groundadjacent the support so as to be held againstmovement by means of theground, a switch having two contacts one of which is connected to eachof said parts means for electrically connecting the switch contacts,while the parts occupy normal position, said connecting meansbeingadapted to disconnect said 'contacts when the parts move from normalposition, a signal and means for causing saidsignal to become operativewhen the contacts are disconnected. r

,In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

